The rapid advancement of chip manufacturing technology over the past two decades has been driven primarily by the continued scaling of silicon technology, commonly known as Moore's Law. However, as we approach the physical limitations of silicon, the industry is shifting its focus toward nanomaterials such as carbon nanotubes, graphene, and TMDs, which promise unprecedented chip functionality.
Nanomaterials have the potential to revolutionize various electronic devices, including high-performance transistors, low-power sensors, and quantum devices. The global nanotechnology market is projected to grow from $79.14 billion in 2023 to $248.56 billion in 2030, according to Fortune Business Insights Research, demonstrating how bright its future is expected to be.
The lack of control in existing nanotechnology production methods, mainly chemical-based, has made its commercialization difficult to date. This is where Swiss nanotechnology company Chiral comes into play, which recently announced a $3.8 million funding round.
Automated robotic machines
Chiral's journey began as a national research project at the Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology, where co-founders Seoho Jung, Natanael Lanz and Andre Butzerin were PhD students. After four years of R&D and the successful creation of a machine prototype that was 100 times faster than existing systems, the team incorporated Chiral in June 2023.
The company plans to use high-speed automated robotic machines to integrate nanomaterials into devices. These machines can reportedly place materials as small as micrometers or even nanometers onto chips with unprecedented precision and control, overcoming the limitations of traditional methods.
Chiral's seed funding round was co-led by Founderful and HCVC, and Pascal Mathis, founding partner at Founderful, said: “Chiral's AI and robotics-based technology allows us to imagine a future where chips based on “in nanomaterials at the scale necessary for commercialization, a major bottleneck until now.”
